James L. Ferraro announced today that renowned civil rights attorney Daryl D. Parks has joined the firm and will be a key part of the legal team representing former and current Black franchisees in the discrimination lawsuits against McDonald's.

The Ferraro Law Firm represents 77 Black former franchisees and a class of current operators. Both groups of plaintiffs allege McDonald's put in a place a system that discriminated against Black restaurant operators and denied them the same opportunities as White franchisees.

"Daryl is a legal giant in the civil rights community. He has been at the center of the nation's most challenging racial discrimination cases, and I am honored to have him as part of our McDonald's litigation team," Ferraro said.

Parks has represented the families of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and Corey Jones. He is a regular legal analyst on national television including such outlets as MSNBC, Fox News and CNN.

"The case against McDonald's is historic, and it is a privilege to be representing the Black men and women who were – and continue to be – treated like second-class citizens by the company," Parks said.

Ferraro and Parks will be facing a McDonald's legal team headed by former Attorney General Lorretta Lynch.

Parks' immediate focus will be the McDonald's case; however, he is joining The Ferraro Law Firm as a permanent attorney who can handle wide-ranging legal issues based on his vast experience and community involvement.

Prior to establishing his own eponymous law firm in 2017, Parks was partner with trial attorney Ben Crump for more than 20 years.

A member of the Florida Bar, Parks is a longtime philanthropist who has been deeply involved with the organizations like the Sickle Cell Foundation, Bethel Community Development Corporation, Legal Services of North Florida and the Tallahassee Urban League.

Parks has also served as vice chair of the Florida A&M University Board of Trustees and chairman of the Board for both the FAMU Foundation and the FAMU Boosters.

He is a lifetime member of the National Bar Association (NBA), and has served in national leadership positions over the last sixteen years including general counsel, vice president of finance, director of Region XI and president of the NBA's Virgil Hawkins Florida Chapter. He has received NBA Presidential Awards in 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2009. In 2011, Parks was elected as the 69th President of the NBA.

Because of his professional and charitable efforts, Parks received several prestigious appointments. In 2017 he was named national general counsel for Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. He was appointed to serve as the minority caucus chair for the American Association for Justice and to a number of leadership positions with the Florida Justice Association, including its board of directors. Then-U.S. Senator Bill Nelson appointed him to the Federal Judicial Nominating Commission for the Northern District of Florida and then-Governor Charlie Crist appointed him to the Judicial Nominating Commission for the First District Court of Appeals for Florida.